GVSU to celebrate graduates December 6

Nearly 1,000 Grand Valley State University students will participate in the winter commencement ceremony December 6 at Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids.

Students will hear an address from Grand Valley alumna Laurie Finney Beard, president of Founders Bank and Trust, a privately held bank in Grand Rapids. Finney began as an investment broker in 1991 when she and other business leaders formed a partnership to create the bank. She has served as president and CEO since 2001 and Founders’ assets have tripled under her leadership. She earned a master’s degree in business administration from Grand Valley in 1981 and was a founding member of Grand Valley’s Women’s Center Advisory Board. 

Grand Valley Commencement Ceremony

Saturday, December 6, 10 a.m.

Van Andel Arena, downtown Grand Rapids

The ceremony will live stream at www.gvsu.edu/commencement

MEDIA NOTE: Skybox 101B is reserved for media. The box offers a mult box and an elevated, unobstructed view of the podium and platform. 

During the ceremony, the Alumni Association will present the Young Alumni Award to Ryan Slusarzyk, ’08, global project manager for the Amway Corporation. He is a member of several groups in the community and at Grand Valley, including the Seidman College of Business Alumni Association Board and Spectrum Health Foundation Council. He has been named one the “40 under Forty” by the Grand Rapids Business Journal. 

Three individuals will receive an honorary degree during the ceremony: Laurie Finney Beard, James Kofi Annan and Thomas A. Wisner. Annan is founder of Challenging Heights, an organization that promotes youth and family empowerment and children’s rights to education and freedom from forced labor in Ghana. Students and faculty have worked and learned from him over the past five years. Wisner is president of L.E.T., Inc., a land acquisition and development company. He and his wife, Joyce Wisner, created scholarships for first-generation and non-traditional engineering students and physical therapy doctoral students. 

Notable students

A mother and son who started classes together in the Kirkhof College of Nursing in 2010 are graduating together. Jennifer Zoeteman is receiving a doctorate in nursing, and her son, Matt Zoeteman, is receiving a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Jennifer and Matt are available for interviews and can be reached at [email protected].